100 STYLE AND THE MAN 



that gives the sense of mass and multitude? Certain 

 things we may demand of every man's style, — that 

 it shall do its work, that it shall touch the quick. To 

 be colorless like Arnold is good, and to have color 

 like Ruskin is good; to be lofty and austere like the 

 old Latin and Greek authors is good, and to be play- 

 ful and discursive like Dr. Holmes is good; to be 

 condensed and epigrammatic like Bacon pleases, 

 and to be flowing and copious like Macaulay pleases. 

 Within certain limits the manner that is native to 

 the man, the style that is a part of himself, is what 

 wears best. What we do not want in any style is 

 hardness, glitter, tumidity, superfetation, unreality. 

 In treating of nature or outdoor themes, let the 

 style have limpidness, sweetness, freshness; in criti- 

 cism let it have dignity, lucidity, penetration; in 

 history let it have mass, sweep, comprehension; in 

 all things let it have vitality, sincerity, and genuine- 

 ness. 



